"This time next year, Rodney" Hypno's latest instalment

Ok, so the next instalment begins......

This week marks the second anniversary of my joining MSE. Although we had been working hard at reducing the debt for many years, it was always one step forwards, two steps back, robbing Peter to pay Paul, the "oh well, we're in so much debt, another couple of hundred won't make any difference" attitude, and all of those other things that you all know sooooo well!

So it is only since I joined this site that I have become more focused on reducing that debt "properly" and looking forward to actually, realistically, becoming debt free.

It has been one heck of a journey so far - I have become more honest with myself about things, faced up to realities, embraced new challenges, laughed, cried, and got downright angry along the way. We have reduced the debt to just under £40k, and I am lucky to have a hard working OH who works all the hours he can, in 3 jobs in order to help me on this quest (although his "responsibility" ends at earning the money - he can't cope with the actual practicalities of the finances, so that is left to me).

The potential is that we can clear almost all our remaining debt - about 3/4 of it - by the end of 2009, leaving us just with the mortgage and the secured loan. This is not going to be easy, though, and I need to maintain the momentum that I have gained so far.

In addition to the debtbusting, I obviously have other areas of my life that need attention, that doesn't necessarily mean that they are currently being neglected, but I cannot afford to risk pushing to one side, or in some cases pushing further to one side....

So, I have drawn up a new plan for 2009 - the idea being that rather than having New Year's Resolutions that I am not "ready for" or not committed to fully, which then fall by the wayside after 5 mins/2 days/1 week, I have a list of things that I would like to address and accomplish during the course of the year, with the intention that by the end of 2009 I will be in a much better "place" than the one I have been over the last couple of years.

The headings I have are:

• Employment and Money-making
• Financial
• Family
• Home and Garden
• Me
• Organisation
• Anything else

So, over the course of however long this phase of my diary lasts, I will introduce some of these aims to my posts so you can see what I am going to aim for.

This site, and particularly this particular forum, has helped me immensely. It is ever evolving, due to the massive changes that are taking place in the economy right now, and we have seen so many people come, go, make changes, make no changes, but I hope that the support I have gleaned from it and the inspiration that I have obtained from it remains for the next stage of my journey.